Posted
on the campaign's official weblog, www.blogforamerica.com on January 30,
2004:

Roy Neel: Where We Go From Here

This campaign has always defied conventional wisdom. Our extraordinary
rise last year defied conventional wisdom-so did our fall in Iowa, and
so did our comeback in New Hampshire after most pundits predicted Howard
Dean was finished.

Conventional wisdom has been consistently wrong about this race.

So when conventional wisdom says a candidate must win somewhere on February
3, or that John Kerry will have wrapped up the nomination after fewer than
10% of the delegates have been chosen, we disagree.

Our goal for the next two and a half weeks is simple-become the last-standing
alternative to John Kerry after the Wisconsin primary on February 17.

Why Wisconsin? First, it is a stand-alone primary where we believe we
can run very strong. Second, it kicks off a two-week campaign for over
1,100 delegates on March 2, and the shift of the campaign that month to
nearly every big state: California, New York, and Ohio on March 2, Texas
and Florida on March 9, Illinois on March 16, and Pennsylvania on April
27.

In the meantime, Howard Dean is traveling to many of the February 3
states, sending surrogates-including Al Gore-to most, and conducting radio
interviews in all. We believe that one or more of our major opponents will
be eliminated that day, and that the others will fall by the wayside as
our strength grows in the following days. As a result we have elected to
not buy television advertisements in February 3 states, but instead direct
our resources toward the February 7 and 8 contests in Michigan, Washington
and Maine. We may not win any February 3 state, but even third place finishes
will allow us to move forward, continue to amass delegates in Virginia
and Tennessee on February 10, and then strongly challenge Kerry in Wisconsin.

Regardless of who takes first place in these states, we think that after
Wisconsin we'll get Kerry in the open field. Remember one crucial thing
about the 2004 calendar-in previous years a front-runner or presumptive
nominee would typically emerge after most of the states had voted and most
of the delegates had been chosen. The final competitor to that candidate,
even if he won late states, as many have done, has not been able to win
a majority of delegates under any scenario.

This year is very different. The media and the party insiders will attempt
to declare Kerry the winner on February 3 after fewer than 10% of the state
delegates have been chosen. At that point Kerry himself will probably have
claimed fewer than one third of the delegates he needs to win. They would
like the campaign to be over before the voters of California, New York,
Texas and nearly every other big state have spoken.

Democrats in Florida, who witnessed a perversion of democracy in November
2000, will not have a choice concerning the nominee if the media and the
party insiders have their way.

We intend to make this campaign a choice. We alone of the remaining
challengers to John Kerry are geared to the long haul--we've raised nearly
$2 million in the week after Iowa, over $600,000 in the 48 hours since
New Hampshire. No candidate--not even Kerry, who mortgaged his house and
tapped his personal fortune to funnel $7 million into his campaign -will
have sufficient funds to advertise in all, or even most, of the big states
that fall on March 2 and beyond. At that point paid advertising becomes
much less of a factor.

And we alone of the remaining challengers offer a clear choice to Kerry.
Howard Dean is no Johnny Come Lately to the message of change-he has actually
delivered change in Vermont. Howard Dean has the courage and conviction
to stand up for what's right, even when it's not politically popular, as
opposed to the cautiousness, compromise and convenience that has characterized
John Kerry's 19 years in the Senate.

We believe that when the voters of the post-Wisconsin states--which
constitute 75% of the delegates that will be chosen in the states--compare
Howard Dean and John Kerry, they will conclude that Dean, not Kerry, has
the best chance to beat George Bush, because only Dean offers a clear vision
of change and a record of results that contrasts against the rhetoric emanating
from Washington. We believe they will increasingly reject the rubber stamp
presented to them by the media.

Has such a strategy ever worked before?

No. It's never been tried.

But prior to this year, no candidate had ever raised $46 million dollars,
mostly from ordinary Americans giving $100 each. Prior to this year no
candidate for President had ever inspired the kind of grass-roots activity
that has been this campaign's hallmark. Prior to this year no candidate
for President had so clearly revitalized his party, allowed it to reclaim
its voice, and shifted the agenda so clearly to a call for change.

Let the conventional wisdom and the media declare this race over. We're
going to let the people decide.